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WHY USE MULCHES?
Go into a tree Forrest and look at the matting of leaves that have fallen from trees onto the soil below and constructed a natural, earthy mulch. Dig underneath this rich leaf matting and you will see how mulch works. 
The photo on the left shows Nandina Domestica Nana (dwarf Japanese Bamboo) with straw mulch.
Using the correct material you can change a garden with poor ground over a time period to a nutrient enriched, natural, fertile garden full of healthy earthworms which inturn will improve the soil structure. Worms will munch up organic material in their front end and out their back end comes worm poo, which is a very important natural organic plant food. (Click here for information on earthworms)
The more you put into and on the garden in the end it will repay you back far beyond expectations with superior growth, flowers and healthy plants.
A SUPERIOR MULCH SERVES MANY PURPOSES
GROUND BLANKET - will help insulate against extreme hot or cold temperature changes.
SHELTER - alleviates water loss through evaporation by 70-80 per cent, and decreases soil compaction from rainfall.
WEEDS - a thick cover of mulch slows down weeds by denying them light the same as plastic sheeting does.
NOURISHMENT - offers a slow-release nutrient source as it decays and restricts ground covers that compete for nutrients.
HELPS - to check disease by keeping leaves separate from the bare soil. Straw type mulch will keep fruit off the ground and help prevent fungus diseases moving onto the fruit from the soil.
A garden area covered with a good thick layer of Mulch is much easier to maintain as it will provide a protective layer between the elements and the soil. The thickness of Mulch acts as a barrier to the sun and wind to help minimise loss of moisture due to evaporation. This means a great savings on your excess water bill.
Mulch will also decrease the soil temperature keeping the root system of plants from heat stress. Good mulching of the top soil will also assist keeping down the weed growth.
WHAT CAN YOU USE AS MULCH?
You can use many different materials.
Slow decaying woody materials; wood chips, pine bark, red gum chips, will give a good low maintenance cover.
Fast decaying dry materials; newspaper, pea straw, lucern, dry leaves and dry grass, but you will need to add some organic nitrogen to minimise temporary nitrogen loss in soils as it beaks down.
Fresh materials; fresh grass ( do not use if they have seed heads ), leaves (let these partially break down before use). These will also need organic nitrogen added to them.
River stones, stones and gravel are good for arid garden plants. Remember that these types of material absorb heat, so do not use these materials around soft foliage, cool climate plants. FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE Mulching and Water Saving.
This section will help you identify some of the products you will need.
MAKING YOUR OWN MULCH
Avoid materials which have been administer with weed killers or different chemicals. Unpolluted materials such as grass, leaves etc. should either be composted in the beginning or left for a few weeks to moderately deteriorate. It is essential to mix in organic nitrogen to stop temporarily robbing the plants of nitrogen. I would suggest that you mix one part of well mature compost, worm castings or rotten manure to ten parts of mulch.
Smaller prunings of non-invasive plant's branches can be used directly as a mulch. Provided that the prunings are up to the thickness of a pencil and they can then be shredded with the aid of a lawn mower. To do this arrange the prunings in a long row and slowly mow over them. For larger branches you can either hire or buy a garden mulcher.
Fresh grass can be used but it tends to matt together, so use in a thin layer to a depth of 2cm at a time until it breaks down then apply another layer or just mix the grass clippings with other materials. Re-using lawn grass is a simple and effective means of mulching. Mow when the lawn foliage dry and adjust the mower height to only cut the top third of the grass.
Plants such as Camphor Laurel, Casuarina, Conifer and Eucalypts leaves have growth inhibitors and must be well composted before using as mulch.
NO DIG GARDENS
Sheet mulching is a way of preparing a garden zone for planting devoid of the need to weed or dig. First,.cover the ground area with newspaper five sheets thick or thick black plastic and leave for three to four weeks. When the time is right, cut cross slits into the plastic or paper, dig a hole, sprinkle some slow release fertiliser into the bottom of the hole, cover with 2cm of soil and plant.
'No-dig' gardens are a variation on sheet mulching. They are great for vegetable gardens and the area with the aid of railway sleepers for wallings, the garden beds can be raised for people with limited movement.
YOU MAY LIKE TO TRY THIS METHOD.
Starting from the base layer you may wish to place 10-15 cm of leaves and sticks if your soil has poor drainage.
Next layer of 6-8 cm newspaper followed by 9-12 cm of lucerne hay, then place on top 3 cm of animal manure, which can be fresh or pellets.
Now add 15 cm of pea straw, followed by 3-4 cm animal manure, again this can be fresh or pellets.
Then a 8-10 cm of compost or composted soil to which you plant the seeds or seedlings into.
Last, the top layer, place a thin cover of pea straw or lucern to act as the mulch.
Make sure that you water each layer as you place them down. Water the garden each day for the first week, then water much less often as it needs it.
( click here for information on mulches)
For help on some reasonably hardy type plants see our fact sheet on Coastal and Sea Side Plants
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